Adventures at Colliers Mills Lake

I've been taking Oxford to the lake every day to do a little swimming and he's been having a blast running through the grass and eating all the tadpoles he can fit in his little belly.

There is another female duck that lives at the lake that doesn't get on with Ox very well. She follows us everywhere and pinches his butt if he gets too close. There's also a black snake living in the reeds near the shore but so far he hasn't caused us any trouble.

New River Rendezvous

I took a road trip down to West Virginia Thursday to do some climbing and drink some beer at the New River Rendezvous. Ox made the trip with me so everyone knew me as "the person with the duck" all weekend. It stayed pretty dry during the day, but it rained late in the afternoon every day so some of the climbs we wanted to get on were a bit too wet.

Friday I went down to the Bridge Area with some guys who climbed Trad. We walked nearly the entire length of the cliff from North Bridge to Overlook Buttress, but most of the climbs we had in mind were pretty wet from the night before. Still, we got on three really fun climbs and i got a lot of exercise

Midnight Moonlight 5.7 (Central Bridge Wall)
Easily Flaky 5.6R (Bridge Buttress)
Out to Lunch 5.8 (Overlook Buttress)

Saturday I took a sport climbing clinic with Chris Lindner out at Summersville Lake. I learned a lot of little tricks and got some solid instruction on how to clean a climb...something I never learned sport climbing in the gym.

Hippie Dreams 5.7
Souled Out 5.9
Baby Has a Bolt Gun 5.10c (only got half way up this one)

Saturday night the skies really opened up, so Sunday morning Jen and I make a fire and roasted some marshmellows while we waited for everything to dry out. We headed out to Sandstonia around noon and I got to put what I'd learned in the clinic into practice. I lead the routes and set up the top rope for Jen, then I climbed it again to clean it. Since we had already packed up the campsite I had to bring Oxford with me. I thought he would wander all over the place, but he stayed really close by and even tried to follow me up the first climb.

My favorite climb of the day was Butterfly Flake. Last year David clipped the first bolt for me and it was actually the first climb I ever lead. It's a huge right-facing flake that's great to lay-back and just walk your hands all the way up.

Five-Five My Ass 5.6
Bobby D's Bunny 5.6
Butterfly Flake 5.7
Shady Lady 5.7

Overall it was an awesome weekend. I met some great people, ate some great food and did some great climbing. Ox has a blast meeting new people and hanging out at the cliffs, and he made great company on the 9 hour drive and sleeping for a night in a sketchball Walmart parking lot.


Update: (2 weeks later) See if you can catch the Oxford references in this description of the Rendezvous on Climbing Magazine's website:

On May 14-17, 2009, climbers from all over the country, a few dogs, and even a duck descended upon the bullet sandstone of the New River Gorge to raise funds for New River Alliance of Climbers. Perfect, sunny weather held for several days of great climbing and even when Saturday night's rain did come, the crowd's enthusiasm and high spirits were not to be subdued. Shown in this gallery is climbing action at the Kaymoor and Bridge crags, as well as festivities at the Burnwood campground: slack-lines, dyno competition, tug-o-war, and hula-hoop.

I Graduated!

And I wasn't last...I was second to last! Four years of long days and late nights end in a 10 second walk across the stage. I managed a 3.7 and ended up finishing all of my honors requirements so I graduated with honors as well. I'm definitely ready to move on, but it was still a bittersweet moment. It's been a great four years and I'm really going to miss Farmville and everyone I've met there. Some people say college flies by; I think senior year flew by, but freshman year seems like a lifetime ago. Here are a few highlights of the last four years:

* Playing my first division 1 field hockey game
* Exploring San Francisco with Ava
* Casting Crowns concert
* Late night study sessions in the cafe
* Bible study at Jon's house
* Sneaking down the Chi tunnel
* Meeting my Twin
* Living with the Tuareg in Niger
* Dr. Roy's classes
* Midnight hockey with Erin
* Swim practices with Patsy
* Working at the climbing wall
* Sunset on Willis mountain
* Walking down Brock Commons at 2am

Its ALIVE!

So after a little over 12 hours of blood, sweat and tears (of frustration)....Frankenbike lives! I see now why somebody left it in a ditch...pretty much everything that could have gone wrong with this bike did. Fortunately between Ava's ingenuity and my determination we ended up getting the job done. I even managed to sand it down and apply a shiny new coat of paint.


I know this looks a whole heck of a lot like the last picture I posted...so here's a list of what's changed:

-Removed broken front and rear derailleurs
-Shortened chain to turn it into a single speed
-New brake cables
-New front brake
-Refurbished rear brake
-New seat
-Fresh paint
-Sweet new name!

I brought it down to the lumber yard today but the guy I was fixing it up for only works nights, so I left it in the office for him. Giving this bike away feels like I'm leaving a little bit of myself here in Farmville. Pretty cool

Welcome to the Twilight Zone...

...also known as senior week. This is the week in between finals and graduation where we wait in this strange limbo between being college students and real "adults." After sixteen years of stressing and studying, my school days have finally come to an end! True, I might go to grad school in a few years, but for now I can officially consider myself done.

There are a few events planned for seniors this week, but for the most part there's nothing to do but relax. I've been getting a lot of hammock time in this weekend, but I'm gonna get off my lazy butt starting tomorrow... I've got a bit of a renovation project planned. I was out for a bike ride yesterday when I found this beauty lying neglected in a ditch in the middle of nowhere about two miles out of town.

There was a bug-infested seat cover that I ripped off and it needs new brake cables, but other than that it's in fantastic shape. The chain is hardly even rusty! I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with it when I found it, but I couldn't just leave it there to rust... As I was steering it home past the lumber company I ended up talking with one of the townies there. Long story short he could really use a bike to get to and from work, so I'm going to get some supplies from the cycling club shed and fix it up for him. Glad to have something to keep me busy this week, and its great to give a little something back to the community before I leave.